Summer Reading

Men and Women in the Church by Sarah Sumner…. This book formed my thinking several years ago. I think it’s time for a re-read to see if I’m still in the same place or if I’ve moved.

Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright … I am co-hosting a summer Theology Park group on Friday mornings. Can't wait to dive into this one.

Essays on Learning…. Saw some things at Barnes and Noble I’d like to explore.

The Religious Potential of the Child 6-12 by Sophia Cavaletti… I read the version for preschool age children several years ago and it gave me weeks of chewing material.

Teach Your Own by John Holt… Every summer I try to dive into some different part of the homeschooling world and see what I can glean from it. This is one of the pioneer secular thinkers.

My Antonia by Willa Cather… Sometimes literature just calls to me and I've no idea why. This is the case here. I just think it's time to read this one.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck... I like a little dose of my favorite author every summer. Time for a re-read of this one.

Grace (Eventually) by Anne Lamott... I asked for (and recieved) this one for Christmas and just haven't had the time until now.

Visual Faith by William Dyerness... I asked for (and recieved) this one for a birthday two years ago. In my attempt to combine art and worship, I think I need to wade through this one.

If I get through three of these, I’ll be good.

1

And we're done.

Not the last day I was dreaming of. But we accomplished it all.

Notes to self:

• When one has a super-competitive son any kind of bean-bag tossing game in which you keep score is never fun.
• When introducing the summer calendar to the kids, never START with the item that states, "We will have media turn-off days Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays."
• When it's the last day of school, they will unexpectedly get up and get dressed and start all on their own at 7:30 a.m.!
• It's not about how much they can say back, it's the process of learning that is important. Even a "test" is a learning experience.
  

Next up:

• Dad gets home.
• We eat spaghetti.
• We have cupcakes and certificates and "Hello, Summer" gift buckets.
• We put the baby to bed.
• We watch The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in our pjs.
• We call it a year.

2

Almost there, al m o s t t h e r e.

J:
Got up and took care of three things on his list and helped his brother out a bit as well. Managed to wade through more research for his mountain report and had fun drawing stick figure pictures to go along with all the ratings on the Beaufort Scale (wind speed).

B:
Reminded me today that we haven't done marbles in a long time (at least two weeks) and so when all was said and done, we called it even and I let them get something out of the prize box.

Marbles are our way of inspiring cheerfulness and cooperation. They can earn about 12 a day doing their various school tasks. Once they fill their jar to a certain line, they get a prize. Simple. Yes, I realize it's a form of bribery, but I'm not concerned. It's a motivator and most of the time it works well. They work pretty hard for their prizes which are around $1 for me to purchase.

So, tomorrow there's a page here and there to finish up and a review of EVERYTHING from the past four weeks. And later on there's a party. Oh, yeah!

3

J:
Got up and decided to get going on schoolwork because Dad said they could go to the store and buy the new Indiana Jones computer game when he finished. J has been saving his birthday money for this day. So, he completed handwriting, listened to B read aloud to him, and helped B with his maps book before I was even ready for them to begin. It's always nice to have a carrot to hold out for them.

B:
Finished his maps book completely, added animals and a rock climber to his mountain model, recited a very long memory verse and drew a pretty good picture of a lichen.

• We had a pretty good discussion on what makes a Jew a Jew and why Jesus was one... but we're not.
• S decided to take an early nap and we got a LOT accomplished before lunchtime.
  
• Almost lost today's work on J's report when the computer froze up... but we recovered it. Whew!

Tomorrow's Carrot: Gram and Grandpa are stopping by and if the boys are done with schoolwork they get to go with G&G on a little outing involving ice cream. Gotta get done by lunchtime, guys!